Best of 2021

 

2021 was a big read year for me = 100 books. I cannot do that in 2022, but I tried to take the 100 books and really hone down and figure out what my top 7 were.  As I look at the poster, I realize that all of these are BIPOC or AAPI authors writing about BIPOC or AAPI things. Thank you publishing companies for encouraging diverse authors to write diverse books such that they do not become outliers but just great YA stories. In no particular order but bottom row, left to right, then top row, left to right:

• Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusuf Salaam of the Exonerated Five- novel in verse about a wrongfully incarcerated black boy. 
• (Me) Moth by Amber McBride novel in verse, OMG (period).
• Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Bouley, Indigenous mystery, science girl power
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay Filipino. "It's a sad thing when you map the borders of a friendship and find it's a narrow country than you expected."
• Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo - YES, I see the pattern. I am not stupid. But I am a poet in love with words and these novels in verse this year. I can't help it. One of two love letters to Sandra Cisneros and House on Mango Street
• When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez novel in verse and the other love letter to Cisneros. This can be a ride along
• Crying in H Mart: a Memoir by Michelle Zauner Every big year needs a great adult memoir. This is it. I gave this one to my mom, who gave it to my sister and we pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on.

Other noteworthy books that did not make it on the grid of 7 poster:

Middle grades top 3:

• Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac, novel in verse about a young girl taking care of her grandparents on the Wabanaki reservation. . .and a spiritual dog, of course.
• Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee. This is a Rick Riordan presents book with Hmong mythology
• The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim another Rick Riordan presents. These have been so well written, and I don't think they are getting enough air play. The most memorable literature from teaching 6th grade was my mythology unit. This one is Korean mythology. 

Adult books:

• There There by Tommy Orange. This is not a new book. But it is a national bestseller for good reason. It is a novel of 12 characters from Native communities who are all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow in California.
• The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois: a novel - brilliant storytelling of an African American family similar to Joy Luck Club in scope and time (and secrets)